Older Women Take Advantage Of Depleted Draw
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WIMBLEDON, England – It’s happened again.
For the second straight Grand Slam, the final 16 women are a mishmash of top young players, aging veterans, and outcasts whose arrival in week two could have won a pretty penny for anyone daring enough to place a wager on them.
Mary Pierce, 30, is performing an encore of her run to the French Open final, while Elena Likhovtseva, 29, has her eyes on another semifinal. Jill Craybas, who turns 31 next month, today looks to show Venus Williams that her win over Serena was more than a fluke. Kveta Peschke, who turns 30 next month, has already defeated one Russian – no. 11 seed Vera Zvonareva – and will take a crack at another today (Nadia Petrova). Bulgaria’s Magdalena Maleeva rounds out the 30-and-over crowd with her second straight fourth round appearance here.
The work of the tour’s elders has overhauled the draw. The bottom half, once stacked with both Williams sisters and Justine Henin-Hardenne, has now opened up for Maria Sharapova, who could face Petrova in the quarterfinals and then either Williams or Pierce in the semifinals.
The top half, meanwhile, presents a tougher road for the winner of today’s contest between Lindsay Davenport and Kim Clijsters, including possible matches with Svetlana Kuznetsova and then either Amelie Mauresmo or Elena Dementieva. Long shot final of them all? Maleeva versus Craybas. Amazingly, it’s week two and the possibility still exists. Place your bets.
